The RETRORONTO Report #22
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Monday, September 7, 2026
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☁️
Cloudy 22C
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📃
Vers. 0.6
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📅 Monday, September 7, 2026 | ☁️ Cloudy 22C | 📃 Vers. 0.6 |
Wishlists:
📈 1,193
|
Itch.io Views:
👁️ 6,482
|
Discord:
🙌 78
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Instagram:
📷 264
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Wishlists: 📈 1,193 | Itch.io Views: 👁️ 6,482 | Discord: 🙌 78 | Instagram: 📷 264 |
This is The RETRORONTO Report, your go-to source for all the latest happenings and updates in the evolving city of Retroronto!
CNE 2: Retroronto Boogaloo
Retroronto returned to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) on August 24–26, once again bringing the game to the Gaming Garage in the Enercare Centre. While this year's showcase saw fewer visitors than last year's opening-weekend appearance, the event still brought a steady stream of families, children, teenagers, and curious fairgoers over to the booth. As before, Retroronto's colourful pixel art and recognizable Toronto setting proved to be an effective way of catching people's attention.
The quieter crowds did have one unexpected benefit. The first day of the showcase produced enough feedback, suggestions, and bugs to keep development busy, and Tuesday was ultimately spent back at the computer addressing the notes instead of showcasing. Many of the fixes and improvements made following the event can be found throughout this month's much larger changelog.
Postcards once again proved popular, with the remaining supply running out during the event. Visitors could also scan the QR code on the booth's banner to visit Retroronto's online page directly, providing another way to follow the game without relying on a postcard making it home. The Gaming Garage itself was somewhat smaller this year due to a separate ‘Space’ exhibition occupying part of the floor, though the reduced area was less noticeable during the quieter showcase days.
While this year's CNE appearance may not have matched the crowds of last year's event, it still proved valuable as both a showcase and a development opportunity. The feedback gathered over those three days has already made its way into the game, and Retroronto remains grateful to the CNE staff for the opportunity to return and share the project with another audience.
- Eliza O’Brien, Staff Reporter
Groceries On Demand
Blahbos is now open for business, giving Retroronto residents a one-stop shop for keeping their refrigerators stocked. With more than thirty food items available across fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, and other grocery staples, Blahbos is set to become Retroronto’s premiere grocer.
- Patricia Greene, Reporter
Laundry Service
Keeping your apartment clean now extends beyond the kitchen and bathroom, with three new laundromats opening at convenient locations around Retroronto. Each location provides everything needed to wash and dry your bedsheets, giving players a new chore to tackle every few weeks.
- Robert Sawyer, Editor
New Game Release
A new arcade game has arrived in Retroronto's laundromats, and it asks the age-old question: how far can you drive before Toronto traffic gets you? Gardiner Grind puts players behind the wheel on a busy highway, challenging them to dodge incoming vehicles and travel as far as possible before time runs out.
- Ian Ruthers, Writer
Monthly Roadmap Recap
When Retroronto's 2026 roadmap was first laid out in January, the goal was to spend the year filling out the city with systems and activities that would make it feel more alive. With the year now entering its final stretch, much of that plan has come to fruition. Seasons and weather, illnesses, news and events, bars, delivery minigames, taxis, NPC tasks, and most recently chores and home decoration have all found their way into the game. Along the way, Retroronto also reached each of its planned showcase milestones, appearing at TGE, XP Summit, Toronto Games Week, and the CNE.
Not everything made it across the finish line. Some ideas grew beyond their original scope, while others (Friends, Unlockable Places, Home Upgrades, etc) were pushed aside as development moved in other directions. These features may return during future updates or full production, while some may ultimately be cut altogether. For now, the focus remains on completing the strongest foundation possible for the demo before moving on.
Retroronto's demo will continue receiving updates through the end of the year, at which point development will shift toward Alpha production for a planned PC release on Steam in 2027. The remaining months will focus primarily on Cooking, building upon the new grocery and food systems introduced this month, alongside other foundational work that can support the game's next stage. A new roadmap will be prepared for 2027 as that transition approaches. Development may slow somewhat during the studio's financial year-end, with time also needed for business administration and tax filing, while potential showcases such as VGLX in October and Super MAGFest in January remain on the horizon.
Marketing will also become an increasingly important part of the equation. After months of prioritizing development and event appearances, recent video content has shown more promise than the update videos produced over the past year, giving Starspray Studios a reason to keep experimenting with short-form content for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. With Alpha development approaching, finding a sustainable balance between building Retroronto and getting people to actually see it may become just as important as the development roadmap itself.
Where citizens say what’s on their mind, and we print it anyway.
School Traffic
By Andrea K., 41
September hits and suddenly nobody knows how to drive anymore. School zones, parents stopping in the middle of the road, kids crossing wherever they feel like it... Took me fifteen minutes to get through a stretch I normally clear in five! I guess summer was nice while it lasted.
There Goes the Sun
By Marcus D., 36
I don't remember when 7:30 became “basically nighttime,” but apparently that's where we're at now. You leave the office, it's dark. You get home, it's darker. By the time you've figured out what you're making for dinner, summer is officially gone! I'm not ready for this…
First Cold Morning
By Helen P., 58
There is always one morning in September when you step outside and think, “Well, that's it.” Not winter, obviously. But summer has packed its bags. I put a jacket on yesterday for the first time since May. My neighbour says I'm being dramatic, but of course, she was wearing a scarf saying that!
Classifieds
AUTUMN YARD CLEANUP
Offering help with raking leaves, clearing garden beds, hauling branches, and getting outdoor spaces ready for the colder months. Reliable assistance for homeowners who would rather spend their weekend doing literally anything else.
WINTER CLOTHING ALTERATIONS
Need a coat taken in, sleeves shortened, or an old sweater repaired before the cold weather arrives? Offering basic clothing alterations and mending services. Affordable work with quick turnaround available throughout September.
STUDENT APARTMENT CLEANOUT
Moving into a new place for the school year? Offering help with sorting, hauling, and disposing of unwanted furniture, boxes, and miscellaneous apartment clutter. Especially experienced with rooms that somehow accumulated an entire summer's worth of stuff.
Obituaries
DORIS McKENZIE
(1952-200X)
Doris spent nearly forty years working as a cashier at a neighbourhood grocery store, where she became known for her quick wit, sharp memory, and habit of knowing exactly which customers were going to need a price check. Former coworkers remember her as someone who could complain about the job for twenty years and still somehow make everyone laugh during a busy Saturday shift.
Outside of work, Doris enjoyed mystery novels, bingo nights with friends, and tending to the collection of houseplants that gradually took over her apartment. She rarely travelled far, preferring instead to keep up with the people and places around her neighbourhood. In her later years, she could often be found sitting by her window with a cup of tea, watching the street below and keeping an informal account of everything happening outside.
Doris is remembered by friends and neighbours as dependable, opinionated, and never particularly interested in pretending to agree with anyone. She leaves behind many fond memories, a considerable number of crossword puzzles, and several plants that her friends have promised to keep alive.
Events
FALL HARVEST MARKET
Local farmers, bakers, and small vendors gather for a weekend market celebrating the arrival of the autumn season. Visitors can browse fresh produce, preserves, baked goods, and handmade products while stocking up for the months ahead. Live music and seasonal activities will be available throughout the day for visitors looking to make an afternoon of it. Come early for the best selection, and bring a reusable bag unless you enjoy carrying six apples in your shirt.
NEIGHBOURHOOD GARAGE SALE
Residents throughout the neighbourhood are opening their garages, basements, and front porches for a city-wide day of secondhand shopping. Browse furniture, books, records, clothing, household items, and the occasional mystery object nobody remembers buying. Participating homes will be marked with signs, with many sellers offering discounts as the day goes on. Bargaining is encouraged, but sellers reserve the right to insist that their old VCR is absolutely worth ten dollars.
Changelog
Changes/Fixes:
Fixed a bug where lights on upper parts of buildings wouldn't dynamically change at night
Fixed a bug where the player's hands and items being held would not getting masked within interior scenes when beyond interior borders
Fixed a bug where transitioning between rooms vertically sometimes didn't persist, spawning players above/below room perimeters
Changed 6/9 interior to be smaller, to better reflect actual sizes of convenience stores
Updated items sold in Buyers and 69, updated their shelves
Replaced all exit doors in interiors with ones you can open when colliding with, and with areas outside bounds to exit to overworld
Fixed a bug where the Sick task can't be completed if it starts from the player being nauseous
Fixed a bug where you couldnt buy drinks at bars because confirmation was never asked for
Fixed a bug where Wheelhouse had duplicate checkouts who's colliders conflicted and prevented the player from buying things
Replaced Soda item at Bars with Wine
Updated Staff NPCs in Wheelhouse, BOOS, and the Library to have 'i' icons above them
Updated Hotels to better switch between Lobby and Hotel Room
Made transitions fades going into interiors more persistent for loading interior scenes
Adjusted several wall and door colliders in a majority of all interior environments
Fixed a bug where the tent in the park encampment, and the bed in the Hotel room couldn't be used due to not being associated with Home
Updated some backgrounds in interiors to fit doors better
Updated Bank interior so players can enter and leave from the doors on the left, removing the top most door
Fixed a bug where parks wouldn't change to their Winter versions due to changes in how backgrounds would be loaded on PC vs WebGL
Updated Shelf Colouring and Orientation code to be more modular and easier to set up
Updated several food items to increase or decrease health stat to reflect healthy/unhealthy eating
Updated Textbook Smart stat gain from 1 to 5 when finishing reading
Updated Benchpress Health stat gain from 1 to 5 when finishing a set
Changed Sandwich sprite and sandwich-making station in Jimmies
Fixed a bug where players could keep buying from sellers even when inventory was full (still there if another item in inventory isnt food like resume)
Fixed bug where night lights on Skydome, Royal logo, and Dundas Square billboards wouldn't fully fill in
Fixed a bug where npcs in park environments wouldnt be lit correctly during dawn/dusk and night
Npcs in the clinic are now set to be all sick except for the doctor and receptionist
Beds can now only be slept in once, will reset when you re-enter home
Fixed a bug where players could buy any item other than a medicine item during the sick task to progress
Fixed a bug where the sick task would use the wrong icons when completing the task
Sleeping now reduces all stats by 1
Fill actions uses (reading, benchpress) now use 'F/X' instead of SPACE/A to keep using them
Raccoons in parks can only spawn at night now
Changed the Map's place toggle for 'Libraries' to 'Services', which includes the new Laundromats
Changed Clinic and Library interiors to have vending machines
Changed Home Banner sprite
Tasks will now be cleared and reset when the player sleeps
Landlord now no longer just spawns in your home when you wake up on rent day, but will instead show up when you next enter home
Landlord will now walk out of home after leasing and paying rent
Fixed a bug where getting promoted never failed
Fixed a bug where interacting with taxis and then exiting them without using them, would reposition them off the roads.
Moved the Work minigame UI up overtop the base UI
Additions:
Added 'Blahbos' Grocery Store, an expansion retail store that sells every food item in the game. Includes a small eatery
Added Laundromats, where players can do laundry chore tasks, talk to NPCs, play Gardiner Grind, and use vending machines
Added Chore Tasks associated with Home Toilets, where players either have to Clean, Stock, or Repair with specific required items (gotten from Wheelhouse)
Added Grocery Chore task associated with the Fridge, where players need to buy and store a food item from Blahbos in their fridge. Always activates when the fridge is empty
Added Laundry Chore task, associated with the Bed, where players need to take dirty sheets to a Laundromat, wash/dry them, and return the clean sheets back to their bed.
Added Vending Machines, which you can find in Laundromats, Clinics and Libraries, all selling different variation of items. The vending machine in the gym is still 'out of order' for the sake of the task there
Added Gardiner Grind Arcade game, which can be found and played at a Laundromat
Added 3 Magazine items that increase a skill point when read, and placed them in 6/9, Buyers, Wheelhouse, and Blahbos
Added 30+ food items for purchase and consumption
Added additional trash variants of food items
Added new UI elements for inventory for using items and swapping item slots
Added new UI elements for map screen for switching between place sets and zooming in/out
Players and NPCs can now 'sit' in chairs/benches/stools/couches in all interior locations
After paying rent, Landlords will now either raise your rent or keep it as is based on the amount of chores you've done and how late the rent payment was
You can choose between 'Tram Panic' and 'Gardiner Grind' in the Main Menu when selecting 'Arcade'
Removals:
Removed Exit UI above all interior exits
Removed 2 versions of 6/9 that only sold different meat types in freezers
Removed mouse scroll in map, replaced it using Z and X instead
Removed basement apartment due to eviction issues and towards a roommate rework
Got feedback, questions, or concerns about the development of Retroronto? Join the discord server below!
EDITOR’S NOTES
Hey y’all,
I thought I was finally done with all the events this summer, but apparently the CNE had other plans for me. Having shown Retroronto there last year, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect this time around. What I didn't expect was just how much the event would end up influencing the game itself. The first day alone gave me enough feedback, bugs, and little things to fix that I ended up spending the next day back at the computer instead of showcasing. Looking back, it's a pretty important reminder of just how valuable these events can be for playtesting, and how focused I can become when I have a deadline staring me in the face.
Sleep-deprived at CNE’s Gaming Garage
I'm glad I got my cottage vacation out of the way at the end of July, because August was pretty much all Retroronto, day and night. My sleep schedule is completely messed up, and I honestly can't remember another time in my life where I've spent this much time working on a single thing. I don't know yet whether all of this will be worth it in the end, and what skills I’ve picked up along the way, but I'm incredibly grateful that I've cared enough about something to put this much time into it. Although, every now and then, I do miss having a 9-to-5 and being able to spend the evening doing nothing but playing games until bedtime.
I recently had an opportunity from the Southern Ontario Game Developers (SO.GD) to show Retroronto at a post-FanEXPO Twitch Toronto Community meetup last week. The event at the Illuminarium in the Distillery District gave me a chance to meet some prospective streamers and content creators. I didn't walk away having met any huge influencers, but that's not necessarily the point. Some of the smaller creators I met have been streaming for as long as I've been developing Retroronto, and hopefully they'll be people I can keep in touch with as the game moves toward more festivals and showcases.
Retroronto at Twitch Toronto Community Meetup
I think I've finally started to find a bit of a stride with the videos too. Of course, it only took me nearly a year!! The next one should be an interesting test, since I'll somehow be explaining why I decided to add Chores to a life-sim game. Whether it's for the sake of immersion or because I'd rather make a chore system than deal with my own backlog is up for debate. Hopefully it'll make for a more interesting video than another showcase of update features. Should have it out sometime later this week.
With the roadmap now technically complete, there's still another two or three months of demo development ahead before Retroronto moves into Alpha. I've got taxes to file, next year's plans to figure out, and potentially even a move to think about. For now though, thanks for bearing with me, and I'll see you all next month!
Cheers,
Sean "Shramper" Browning
Disclaimer:
The names, classifieds, obituaries, and events featured in this publication are entirely fictional and not associated with any real people or entities. While the content is loosely inspired by the development of Retroronto, it is largely embellished for the sake of engagement and fun. The goal is to present the city and its progress as closely to a newspaper as possible. Please don’t take it all too seriously!